


A Beautiful Future_[Black Clover]

by CodeHades



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Blood and Gore, Drug Use, End of the World, Everyone Needs A Hug, Everyone is Dead, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, M/M, Major Character Injury, Out of Character, Someone pass the morphine, Stand Alone, There's a lot of blood and I don't know how to clean it up, They need some milk, severe gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28424499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CodeHades/pseuds/CodeHades
Summary: Two boys stood on the cliff, as they watched a boulder the size of a mountain break through the clouds.It's slow but threatening motion towards the ground came to an end when they saw it ram into the earth and break into a million pieces, leaving behind an explosion big enough to wipe out cities."....Asta...that looks really scary...""Yeah...it does...but..!!!"An ash blonde kid turned to a black haired boy with tear stained eyes, and pointed his thumb towards himself."I'm always here for you, Yuno! So there's no need to worry!"
Relationships: Asta & Noelle Silva & Yuno, Asta/Yuno (Black Clover), Marx Francois & Julius Novachrono, Noelle Silva & Nozel Silva, Noelle Silva & Solid Silva
Comments: 2
Kudos: 38





	1. Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> So I had this as a dream while I was asleep some time ago. I decided to put it into writing so I wouldn't ever forget it.

March. 

March was the month it started. 

"Yuno! Look here!"  
A high pitched voice tore through the cliff side, and below the rocks was a boy who reacted.  
"Huh? What's wrong?"

Yuno crawled his way to the top, rock by rock, and scrambled next to Asta. 

Two boys stood on the cliff, as they watched a boulder the size of a mountain break through the clouds.

It's slow but threatening motion towards the ground came to an end when they saw it ram into the earth and break into a million pieces, leaving behind an explosion big enough to wipe out cities. 

"....Asta...that looks really scary..."

"....Yeah...it does...  
but..!!!"

An ash blonde kid turned to a black haired boy with tear stained eyes, and pointed his thumb towards himself. 

"I'm always here for you, Yuno! So there's no need to worry!"

Yuno pressed his lips together and controlled his tears. He turned to the explosion. 

"Don't you think we should check it out, Yuno?"  
".........Asta please no...it looks really scary...."  
"Ah, come on...didn't I say it's gonna be okay? I'm here am I not?"

The ash blonde boy held Yuno's wrist and looked him in the eye. 

"Nothings gonna happen, Yuno. As long as I'm here."

The raven haired boy stared at Asta with wide eyes, and a pink flush across his cheeks and nose.  
"O-Okay...."

...........................................

Asta enveloped the other into a hug, and let him cry into his shoulders, as he overlooked a village, burnt down to the ground, and melted corpses spread around the span of the village. 

A bright cyan ooze flooded the village and secreted a smell similar to burning paper.

In middle of it all, there was a life form the size of a whale, with black bony armour plates, squirming around like it tried to escape from something. 

Asta couldn't react. He had known no expression capable of showing what he was feeling. Yuno cried into his shoulder and kept telling Asta to get them out of there. 

In a second, big black tentacles lashed out in every direction and sliced entire trees and structures into three. 

The ash blonde jogged backwards, clutching onto Yuno.  
".....It's okay, Yuno. Let's go call for help. Nothing's gonna happen--"

The boys were smacked onto the ground. But not by the tentacles. 

"Dark Matter Manipulation....vaccum void."

A deep voice calmly chanted these words, and lifted two black shotguns and blasted them at the life form. 

The two boys held onto each other as they watched the life form screaming in pain while it was compressed into a small black dot, before completely disappearing into nothingness. 

"Ah shit, what a mess!"  
The deep voice came from behind the boys.  
"Are you boys okay?"  
There was a man with a muscular build below a black war suit. He had wild black hair and a half shaved beard. He was smoking a white cigarette. 

The man slid the two shotguns onto his back, and lifted the two kids up. 

"Where's your house, young fellas?"

He was confronted with unexpected silence from both the boys. 

"......y'all might need therapy or something. Come with me."

...o0o... 

"Asta! Yuno! Oh my goodness, where were you?!"  
A shrill shout alerted two boys who were walking out of the forests brim.

"Sister! Uhh...umm.."  
"We were just training, Sister."

Two boys of age 15 were facing Sister Lily with anxious expressions. Although, the taller male with jet black hair didn't show much at all. 

"You both knew that there was a curfew going on, and yet you had the audacity to leave!"  
An angry nun stomped up to both the boys and karate chopped their heads with a bang.  
"OW! I'm sorry Sister Lily!"  
"You sure get violent when angry, sister."

The shorter male, who had ash blonde hair held up by a black hairband, laughed heartily, before saying softly..  
"You See, sister...we're training only so we can protect you!"

Asta's green emerald eyes turned to face Yuno's honey colored eyes. 

Sister huffed and crossed her arms.  
"Okay. I'll excuse you for today. Now come on, lunch is ready."

Their conversation was cut by loud blaring sirens from at least three directions. 

"Residents of base camp 3, a class titanium meteorite is heading in your direction. Please stay indoors to avoid serious injuries and death. Do not help anyone but yourself."

The three people were shocked hearing this.  
"A class...titanium? That's the third biggest..!!"  
"Cmon, you both. Get in now."  
All three of them ran into their poorly made stone house. 

A bright green flash grew bigger and bigger as it came closer to Base Camp 3.  
"I wonder who's there to defeat those monsters this time. I hope it's the Black Wolves!"  
Asta shouted as he watched with Sister Lily and Yuno. 

A massive gust of wind cracked their glass window, and frightened the three. Dust and sand dissipated revealing yet another grotesque looking creature. 

"...LOOK! IT'S THE BLACK WOLVES!"

Asta yelled and cheered as he saw two men, and a woman stand in front of the spider like creature. 

It shrieked and crawled it's way to the Black Wolves. A woman in dark armour lifted a massive one meter gun, and shot it with a snapping sound.

A massive red color net made of shiny metal wrapped itself around the spider's fragile body and instantly brought it to the ground. 

And then the final move. 

"Dark Matter Manipulation....dimension travelling bullet."

The two shotguns he had merged into one and went 'BOOM' as a massive and sharp bullet went straight into the spider's head and out through its back. 

All movement came to a standstill. 

"AHHH~ IT'S CAPTAIN YAMI!! CAPTAIN!!"  
Asta skidded and slided as he ran down the stairs and out of the house.  
"A-Asta!"  
"OI ASTA! GET BACK HERE!"

Yuno ran after him but was too late. 

He was already asking Yami for his autograph. 

"Please, captain Yami...! Just once..!"  
Yami looked at the booklet and then Asta, and again. 

He lifted his hand and placed it on Asta's spiky hair. His huge hand covered in armour gloves wrapped around his head.

And ofcourse, he crushed his head. 

"AAAAAAHHHH! CAPTAIIN! I'M SORRY!!"  
Asta yelped, which satisfied Yami.  
"C-Captain Yami...please leave him be..you know he obsesses over you."

Yami's glare moved from Asta to Yuno.  
Yuno had a straight but embarrassed face at the same time. The tall man sighed, before dropping the boy. 

"How many times do I tell you that you don't need an autograph from your own captain, you jughead."  
Yuno slowly rubbed Asta's head, trying to rid it of the pain. 

"Hey! We're still here, you two!"  
A pink haired girl with a mature and strong body, walked up to both the boys and hugged them tightly, squeezing the air out of their lungs.

"Miz Vanessa, that's enough..."  
"Good to see you again, fellas!"  
A man with side winded brown hair and green tips, walked up to the two and hugged them again.  
"Mister Finral, good to see you again."  
Yuno said this time. 

"So boys, you gonna join us yet? On our daily trips around the city?"  
The two friends looked at eachother and read their faces.  
"Well...No, captain. We're gonna try our best to keep Base Camp 3 and Sister Lily safe."  
Asta rubbed the back of his neck, and looked away with a frown. 

Yami left a puff of smoke from his cigarette. 

"Alright, then. Just remember, you're still part of the Black Wolves."  
Yami walked up and patted both their heads. 

"It doesn't matter where you are, if you're here or there, you're still part of the Black Wolves, you're still our fellow teammates. Never hesitate to contact us."

And with that, Finral took out a baton and swung it into an oval shape. A bright blue light filled up the oval. 

"Cya guys later!"  
Vanessa waved as she walked into the portal.  
"Stay safe, boys."  
Yami walked into the portal followed by Finral, who saluted to them. 

The oval shaped light died down and brought everything to normal. 

"......let's go check if everyones alright.  
..........Asta?"  
Yuno looked down to check the face of his childhood friend. 

"You know...sometimes I doubt if we'll ever die. There's....just no way. With such amazing people and Knights, I really doubt it."

The ash blonde looked straight ahead at the body of the still spider, with a calm expression.

"Nothing's gonna happen to us. Nothing's gonna go wrong ever, Yuno."


	2. Breathless

"SISTER LILY! YUNO!"  
Asta ran across Base Camp 3,  
which was no more. 

All the dust and sand flew up into the sky and made morning look like evening. The ground was uprooted and the houses were demolished, which clogged the once pure air that they would sleep through. 

It all want down, back to mother earth. 

He frantically ran around the grounds searching for any sign of his foster brother and his caretaker. 

He found nothing but bright ooze and otherworldly matter mixed with debris. There were more than a hundred burning corpses littered in and around his base.

Sweat trickled down his face, and drenched his shirt.  
His fear was increasing the more he searched. 

He attained salvation when he found Yuno standing in front of their broken house. 

"Yuno! Thank god you're...."

Asta's running slowed down when he stopped beside Yuno. 

"....you're.."

His eyes widened.  
His breath stopped.

................

"Sister...Lily..?"

He muttered from his dried up lips. 

The nun's head was a meter away from her body, which was stuck in a heap of rocks. Nerves and veins still connected to both parts.  
..........  
Asta fell onto Yuno who caught him just in time. 

He breathed heavily and choked on air itself. The other boy pulled him into a tight embrace, and brought his head to his chest.  
The shorter male whimpered and stared at the woman's abnormal look. 

".....First Nash and Recca...then father Orsi, who died protecting Sister Lily and us, and now...."

The taller male turned his head away, and placed his chin on the ash blonde's tuft of hair. 

Asta finally let a tear escape his eyes. 

He never wanted to cry in front of Yuno.

'C'mon Yuno! I'm here, aren't I? There's nothing to worry about.'

'Hey, hey...It's okay. It's nothing you have to look at.'

'Get away from Yuno, you creep!'

'I'm always here to save your day, Yuno! Don't you dare underestimate your brother!'

All his past words towards Yuno flooded into his brain when he tightened his hands around Asta. 

"It's...harsh reality. We can't do a squat about it."

The stotic male's shaken, scared, and worried thoughts came out in a bold and careless manner. Yuno regretted talking.

They embraced eachother for a while. Each in their own thoughts. Their own ideas. It was utter silence. The only sounds were of the boy's sniffles, and smoke fuming and burning the sand below them. 

"C'mon. We gotta go. We never know when the next attack could come."  
The taller male forcefully pulled the other with him, and trotted to the fences leading into the forest. 

Both their heads snapped to the direction of explosions booming through the silence. 

".....Asta come on. It's gonna happen again."

The ash blonde boy stared at the sky, which was flashing bright explosions, as-if there was a fireworks display going on in the vast dark sky. 

"Asta! We have to get out of here!"  
Yuno tugged on his shoulder, but the boy seemed mesmerised with the sky. 

"ASTA!"

Yuno yelled at him just as a small meteorite crashed in front of them. The impact threw the boys off balance and they hit their backs on the fence. 

One rock, two comets, and soon an entire meteorite shower. More than hundreds of boulders and outer-dimensional objects crashed into Base Camp 3, like they were never satisfied with the damage they had already done. 

The two boys sprinted as fast as they possibly could, jumping over rocks and holes and tripping over roots. 

In such a situation, they could never go breathless. 

They ran because their life depended on it. The forests, trees, and mud pools they crossed were all sinking into the earth. Everytime a comet hit, it would pull the boys off balance, but that didn't stop them. 

They found hope when they crossed through the forest's edge and stumbled into a grassland. A grassland with lush green grass and smooth valleys and hills. 

They got memories of their little joy filled Church in Hage Village. 

They remembered Nash and Recca playing with Father Orsi, and how Nash would tease Asta for being a shorty. 

They were too aroused to realize that a strange gap had formed between them. 

"ASTA!"  
"YUNO!"

They both yelled as they tried to reach out to eachother, but a massive rift had started forming between them. 

A ravine, too wide to cross.  
So deep that lava was visible, bubbling in the bottom. 

"SHIT! YUNO CAN YOU CROSS FROM THERE?!"  
"IT'S TOO WIDE! I WON'T MAKE IT!"

The ravine was too wide to cross. 

It was impossible. 

The two boys looked around, terrified, because they imagined they might lose eachother. 

"Yuno! Meet me in the end of this crack!"  
"...Okay!"

Asta sprinted even further, followed by Yuno on the other side of the ravine.

"This might have an ending! It should!"  
"I get it! Don't you dare lose yourself!"  
"And you don't fall in, Yuno!"

The two boys were far away but still next to eachother. As they ran the kept checking on the other.  
Are they okay?  
Are they tired? 

The ravine did come to an end. 

Twenty meters from the boys was an ubrupt ending of the ravine. They needed it, but they didn't expect it. 

They came to the end of the ravine and smiled at eachother. 

"Good to know you're okay, handsome jerk."  
"Same, Shrimpsta."

They both walked ahead next to eachother, and slowly made their way through a thicket of thorns and bushes. 

On reaching the other side, their mouths hung. 

Ahead of them, was a huge stretch of a wall topped with electric fences. Behind that were buildings that touched the clouds. They were bigger than they've ever seen before. 

Yuno and Asta stared at the white buildings, the blue skies, and 

"Is that..."

"Base Camp 1..?"

...o0o... 

They slowly and stealthily walked up to the large metal gates. 

Just as they reached the wall, they heard voices of other human beings, something they haven't heard for a while. Then came the creaking sound of the metal gates opening. 

Someone was coming outside. 

"Hide, Asta!"  
Yuno pulled Asta behind a tree and covered his mouth expecting a scream from him. 

That was when the boys noticed that nobody was coming out, someone was going in. 

".....I wonder who they are."  
Asta whispered after Yuno let him go.  
"They came from the same direction as us. Are there more survivors?"

Asta and Yuno Glanced at eachother. 

"....we should try..."  
The ash blonde blurted out, assuming that the one's entering were just other survivors from Base Camp 3.

"Isn't Base Camp 1 that place where only knights can stay?"  
".....yeah. We're part of the Black Wolves, so we can try."

Asta nodded to Yuno's statement. 

A lonely guard yawned and looked around the inside of Base Camp 1.  
He took a look at his pistol once, before looking straight ahead. 

"Um, sir..."

The guard turned his head to the tall raven haired male, and the ash blonde. 

"We're knights, part of the Black Wolves..."  
"And, we're residents of Base camp 3, which was gone an hour ago. Can we stay here?"

The guard stared at them, and then slid out his communication device. 

"Sir Nozel, we have two former residents of Base Camp 3, who seemed to have survived the meteorite shower and hour ago. What do I do?"

................  
"Did you hear that, Yuno? They knew about the attack..?!"  
"............that's weird. Why didn't they help us then?"  
"I don't know..."

The guard stuffed his device into his pocket, and cocked his gun. 

He cocked his gun. 

The boys immediately raised their arms up high, with surprised faces.  
"Don't try to run or hurt anyone. You're in the presence of Base Camp 1. I'm only saying this to help you."

The guard warned them with a deep voice and opened the large gates. Asta and Yuno were in awe, they hadn't seen anything like this. 

They got pushed inside, and came across something unexpected. 

Luggage and big boxes were being shifted into giant steel machinery. Stores, houses, everything, was getting emptied. 

They were leaving...?

"Why is everyone packing up? Are they shifting bases? Did something happen?"  
"........."  
The guard stayed quiet. He wasn't supposed to talk.

There was one house which was bigger than the rest, and they were getting in that house. Asta gulped.  
What's in there?  
He couldn't help but think. 

"Brother Nozel! There's no way I can--"  
"Shut up, you brat of a sister! Does it look like he cares?!"

A boy and a girl were arguing about something. A girl with two silver ponytails and a boy with silver color sidewinded hair. They seemed like siblings. 

"Thank you guard. You can excuse yourself."

A calm low-tone voice aimed at the guard, making him leave immediately. 

There was a handsome man with open silver color hair and a plait in front, with an eagle hairclip. 

"So...you're the survivors of the latest attack...

Welcome to Base Camp 1."


	3. Gratitude

Nozel Silva looked down at the boys with half lidded eyes. The boys could only stare as a shiver ran up their spine. 

Just the mere look of this man had frightened them. The Silva gave of a cold aura, chillingly different from Captain Yami's. They wanted to step away from him and break into a run if they got a chance. 

"I'm Nozel Silva, captain of the Silver Falcons. Now, are you both part of any Knight's brigade?"

Asta froze the second the man's voice reached his ears. Yuno broke through his shock and cleared his throat. 

"We're part of the Black Wolves, and we're residents of--"  
"I don't care where you came from."

Nozel cut him short which pissed of Yuno, but he had to keep his stotic face on. He had no choice. One wrong move and he felt like he could be burned alive. 

"....members of the Black Wolves, huh? Where are your weapons?"  
"....we weren't given any. We didn't participate in any missions with our squad, they allowed us to protect just our base and caretaker."  
".....How did you protect your base without guns, then?"

Yuno stared at Nozel, and then averted his eyes to someplace else.  
How do I say this...shit...  
Yuno was unable to keep his cool anymore. He gave a look to Asta, but it went unnoticed. Asta gulped, already getting ready to reply.  
'Oh crap. He's gon' say something stupid. He's gon' get us killed.'

"Captain Yami said that we didn't need guns to save people. He never allowed our hands to touch even the littlest of weapons."

Asta answered, with a timid voice. Yuno's mouth hung at how soft and brainy Asta became in this situation. He had never seen his foster brother act like this. 

".....If you have no weapons, then you have no reason to be called Knights."

Nozel glared at the two. 

Yuno's stotic face finally melted into visible fear. 

"Captain Yami says things only for our own good, Mister Braid guy."  
Asta stood tall and locked his angry green eyes with small lavender orbs. 

Shit.  
Yuno's heart was throbbing against his chest and his ears. This was exactly what Yuno didn't want Asta to do. 

"Asta. Get down."  
"No."  
"Asta. Get. Down."  
"Will not!"  
Asta looked at Yuno. 

"I have no reason to be looked down on by some random killer captain! He doesn't even have the mind to listen to us!"

"Asta. Don't you understand the situation--"

"Noelle. Solid. Take them in."

Nozel called out to the other two Silvas who seemed scared of their own brother. The guy walked up to Asta and the girl walked up to Yuno. 

"H-Hey! What are you doing?!"

Asta yelled at Solid who secured his hands with large heavy cuffs. 

".....Whats this about, Sir Nozel?!"  
"Don't talk to my brother."

Yuno had his wrists secured as well.  
The boys were moved into two separate doors. 

"Wait...YUNO! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HIM?!"  
"WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS?! WHERE ARE WE GOING?!"  
"LET US GO!!"

The boys were forcibly dragged through the two separate doors. Asta kept yelling to make the siblings let go, and all Yuno could try to do was get the attention of the tall man. 

Nothing worked. 

The doors slammed shut behind them, muffling their voices entirely. 

"......."

Nozel looked at both the doors, and then looked behind him. There was a white wall. He picked up a nearby remote and pressed the second button. 

The once white wall moved and shifted in square like formations and revealed another massive room, coated with black obsidian and glass to peek through. 

"......It's happening, huh."

...o0o... 

"Sir Julius. You can start now."

A man with blue colored hair in a mushroom cut, looked up from a book with scribbled notes and formulas. 

"....Marx...are you sure this will work...? The fact that I can't come back makes it rely even more on mere luck."  
"It will work, Sir Julius."

A man in a red colored leather jacket and black jeans, stepped onto a dark stone platform. The platform was surrounded by protruding metal structures. It really was unexplainable. 

"Marx....People will misunderstand my actions....what will you tell them?"  
"......."  
Marx didn't look all that happy.  
"What do you expect? You couldn't protect the president, Augustus Kira Clover, and now you decide to...i dont know..."  
Marx took a deep breath. 

"...Time Travel? Really? People will hate you even more. Remember when you were so loved? More than the king?"

Julius's heart dropped at the memories. He didn't want to travel into the future, but he had to. 

To bring everything back to normal, he had no choice. 

"Marx...I'm sorry...I never wanted it to be like this..."

The men stared at eachother. 

"....As long as you're doing it for this world's own good, I'm okay with anything you do, Julius."  
The blonde time traveller pressed his lips together, and rubbed his eyes. 

"Thank You, Marx."

The lever was pulled. 

Hot blue vapours fumed out of four different tubes, and engulfed the man in middle of the machine. 

The mechanical parts rumbled and shook, becoming more intense by the second.  
"....what?"  
The tubes and electric switches bursted on firing up. It fumed and sizzled, turning everything into a sticky liquid. 

"MARX! GET OUT!"  
"J-JULIUS?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! THE SEQUENCING WAS PERFECT!!"  
"It's just a malfunction, Marx...It's gonna be okay! Get out of here!"

Marx watched with wide eyes, as the wires caught on fire and trailed towards Julius. Julius held onto the stone bars and sheepishly smiled at Marx. 

"Julius..."  
His eyes squeezed shut and tears flowed out.  
"Thank You for letting me see the world, Marx."

For a second, there was no oxygen on earth.

Everything ceased to exist. 

For one second, everyone's hearts stopped, the air turned solid, and the ground cracked.

For one second, nothing existed. 

The next second, there was an explosion. 

It shook the very foundation of the entire earth, sky, everything. 

The earth lifted the entire span of the base. It toppled it over twice, before it came back to its original position. 

...................

Asta gasped. He looked around and found Solid in the same position as he was in. On the floor, face flat. 

"....what on the god-forsaken earth..."  
Solid cursed, as he scrambled and took a deep breath. He dusted his dress, before looking down on a shaken Asta. 

"Get up, punk. I'm gonna go and check on what the hell happened."  
".....sure..."

Solid jogged up to the door and slammed it open. Asta followed through. 

Both the boy's breath was held in their throats. 

The entirety of the other half of the base was collapsed. Rocks, boulders and pieces of what used to be the house crushed the entire half of the base. 

"NOELLE!"  
"YUNO!"  
The boys cried out to their familiars, before rushing to the bent iron door on the other side. Asta with his crazy physical strength lifted and threw away a whole bunch of rocks, and Solid helped a little. 

Panting, the boys were about to break open the door, when it opened on its own. 

Out came Noelle, breathing heavily and coughing, holding Yuno who was taking support of the girl's shoulders. 

"Noelle...are you okay?"  
"Yuno!!"  
Noelle placed the raven haired' onto the ground by his knees.  
"He protected me. He seemed to have known when something was wrong..."  
"Okay, but what happened to him?!"  
".....I don't know...It looks like blunt trauma to the head."

Yuno was breathing lightly, actually, barely. His eyes were glued shut by blood pouring out of a big wound on his head.  
"Yuno?"  
Asta shook his shoulders, but there was no reply.  
"You idiots! We have to take him to the medical ward! We still have some doctors there!"  
"....for once you're right, brother Solid. Let's go."

Asta and Noelle lifted up Yuno who was shivering and breathing in short gasps. 

Solid mumbled as he opened the doors,

"He better be okay."


	4. Assumption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My own stories make me break down in tears. But I'm fine. Really.

"How is he?"  
Noelle asked a woman dressed in a blue robe, with a surgical mask.  
"He's good. He'll be awake in a few days."

Solid and Noelle glanced at eachother.  
"Hey, we don't have 'few days', we're leaving in 'few days'!"  
Solid stepped towards the doctor threateningly. 

"We're leaving in a few days? Then who's gonna take care of him?"

Asta switched looks to Solid and to Noelle.  
The silver girl turned her head away to avoid eye contact. She was feeling guilty. 

"Atleast we have the Black Wolves in our side! We'll head over to their base!"  
"They're dead."

A familiar voice boomed from behind them, dominating every other sound in that area. 

".....Brother Nozel..what do you mean?"

Noelle asked quietly, with a look of horror on her face. She looked like she would burst into tears at any second. 

"They're dead. How do I know? Yami told me himself."

Asta stared at the man, who seemed unfazed by the news, which had shook everyone. It angered the smaller boy to such an extent, he felt like snapping Nozel's neck. 

"........explain, braid-man. Tell me more."  
He continued glaring at Silva without batting an eye.

"A few days ago, they we're ambushed by creatures who got past our radars and survived the fall. In the thicket of a forest."

"....names."

Nozel was slowly getting furious at his ignorant behaviour.

".....Vanessa Enoteca."

Asta's heart cracked. Yet he stood like nothing happened. 

"....and Finral Roulacase."

..........

Asta and Yuno had met them just a day ago. 

'....maybe if we had made them sit down for breakfast, we could've.....'

'No.'

'It's not our fault. Stop it. It's NOT MY FAULT.'

".....only two?"  
Solid asked boldly, not knowing the truth.

"That's not the entirety of the Black Bulls--"

"Actually...Mister Solid."

Asta turned his entire body to Solid, with his head hanging low, pouring a shade over his eyes.

"Luck Volita. He died because he was too restless.  
Magna Swing. He died trying to get Luck to stop.  
Charmy died protecting Captain Yami.  
And so on. Our entire crew was wiped out, one by one."

He walked up to Solid. 

"Now Yuno and I are the sole survivors. They all left us feeling guilty..Sad.."

Asta stared up Solid's face with wide eyes. 

"Angry. Filled with despair."

"Asta...you forgot something."

The boys turned to Noelle. 

"I used to be one of you, Asta, but...they told me it was too dangerous to stay with them."

Her chin wrinkled and her face fell low.  
"They gave me a life that was easier to live in every way, while they put their lives on the line for keeping us safe...."

She softly said with a shaky voice, and sniffles in between. 

"....Noelle.."  
"....I'm sorry, you both. Asta and Noelle."  
Solid looked away, while apologizing. 

"I didn't know the truth behind it."  
"It's fine, brother Solid."

Asta changed directions to Nozel.

"Which other squads are up and running?"

"....the only squads that are still alive for Now are... 

...The Crimson Lions. But, Fuegoleon has perished. We don't know the whereabouts of Mereoleona, his elder sister.

...The Blue Rose. The captain's head was found, but not the body. Her knights are still alive. But barely. 

...And us. We're currently in the best possible state than the other two squads."

The three listened to Nozel. Noelle placed her fingers on her temples and let out a shaky exhale.  
Solid sat down on a stool nearby. 

Asta still stared at Nozel. He wasn't done. 

"Why didn't you help them?"

Noelle's head snapped to Asta, and Solid looked at his brother and back. 

"Asta, you shouldn't ask such questions.."

"We couldn't save them on time."  
" 'We couldn't save them on time'..MY ASS!"  
Asta stomped up to Nozel, like he was just another person. He completely ignored his status and class difference between himself and the Silva.

His rage dragged him along. 

"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THEM?! TELL ME THE TRUTH, YOU SELFISH PRICK OF A CAPTAIN!"

Asta was breathing through his teeth, which were pressed together so hard he felt his jaw might snap off. 

He had never felt so betrayed and mad in his entire life. He always loved the Knights, and especially their captains, who were amazing in each their own ways. 

He remembered that time when Fuegoleon had saved Base Camp 3 when Yuno and Asta were a little young. 

The captain's visage, his voice, his sense of pride and justice, a true Lion. 

"WELL?!"  
"I have nothing to say to an insolent pest like you who doesn't know when to shut their trap."  
Nozel glared down at him, showing off his purest form of disgrace towards Asta.  
That didn't work.  
In fact, nothing worked. 

Except a certain thing. 

"Hnghh...my head hurts..."

A pained and irritated voice reached everyone's ears. 

"....Ahh...what the hell.."

"YUNO!"  
The ash blonde overflowed with a sense of relief.  
He ran to Yuno who sat up on his bed, and hugged him like he was the last tree he could hold onto in the centre of a storm. 

"I'm so glad...I'm so glad you're okay..!"  
Yuno could only pat Asta's back as tears streamed out of his eyes, drenching the shirt of the taller male. 

"Damn Asta, you've started to cry a lot."  
".......really? Now?"

Asta let go of him and slapped him on the shoulder. Noelle walked to Yuno's bedside.  
"....umm...thank you, for saving me...I definitely owe you one."  
Yuno stared at Noelle.  
He was perplexed at how she went from a robot controlled by some machine, to a person who seemed to have plenty of life and emotion. 

He turned away almost immediately, and muttered a flustered 'you're welcome'. 

Solid couldn't do much in this situation, he just walked up to him and patted his back, congratulating him on surviving a fatal strike to the head. 

A violent man indeed. 

"You're not fully healed yet, Black Wolf. Rest some more, we'll help you up when we leave."  
"....leave? When? Isn't-isn't this a safe place?"  
"Not anymore. Our co-ruler, Julius, used our strongest weaponized shield so he could travel into the future. That large explosion, was proof that the mission failed."

Everyone froze.  
"Such a complicated mission...failed..? Didn't Marx plan it for more than 6 years?"  
Noelle whispered, unable to believe that all the hardwork and the materials went 'BOOM' in one day. 

"....there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is accept it."  
Solid said it loudly so everyone could hear. 

"Yuno. Asta. We're leaving to The Heaven tomorrow. All we can do is hope that nothing happens tonight."  
Nozel turned on his heels and unzipped the door of the tent they were in. 

".....Cya, Yuno. C'mon Asta."

Asta took a last look at Yuno, before the doctor stepped into the tent.  
"I would request all of you to move out, please. His treatment is still ongoing."

"...yes, ma'am..."

Yuno and Asta glanced a goodbye to eachother, before moving out of eachother's sight. 

Asta, Noelle, Solid, and Nozel, walked back to the main base.  
Solid spoke up,

"I hope nothing happens."

Nozel looked down at him, with a sigh.  
"Nothing's gonna happen. It's alright. There aren't any showers predicted tomorrow."

"........oh..ok.."

Noelle had a slight doubt. 

'Since when did we start...PREDICTING...meteorite showers..? We could only detect them an hour before they hit...'

She glanced up at her big brother. 

'Somethings up.,'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, Happy New Year y'all! We've all been waiting for this cursed year to backflip their ass outta here and it's happened. Fucking Finally.


	5. Betrayal

"Ahh..."  
Asta sighed as he shifted his position on his plain white mattress. He's been trying to sleep for more than an hour, but his instincts kept yelling at him saying somethings about to happen. 

He didn't listen to any of it. He told himself that he's being too overprotective. He doesn't realize how much time he's wasted worrying about what's going to happen in the future. 

"Why can't I just think about what's happening right now?"  
Asta whispered to himself. Then his sleepy and lazy eyes widened a bit, before he energetically straightened up on his mattress, and took a deep breath. 

"Why don't I do some ki practice..? Getting better at using ki, so I could soon detect meteorite showers!"

Asta once again dreamt too far as it would destroy your brain if you were to use all your senses to detect even just a mere comet. The radiation and heat would instantly make your brain-cells burst. Or something like that. 

He closed his eyes.................and opened it again in a minute. 

"I don't sense any living thing here at all...what the..? Am I not in the room next to Noelle's..?"

Asta got up to his feet. He sniffed and looked around trying to find another sign of anything. Anyone. 

'What's going on..?! Why.....maybe I'm just tripping.'

He walked up to the entrance of his room but something caught the corner of his eye. A white sheet of paper. 

"Hm? A paper...."  
Asta walked up to it and looked it down, before picking it up. There was something below it. 

A large disc shaped device which was pinned down by metal all around. It had wired rings in the centre of it. 

"What's this? Is the letter gonna tell me?"

He took a second to scan the object and then moved to the letter. 

As he read the contents of the paper, his eyes widened to the size of saucers and his breath stopped.  
His fingers, which were on the paper, tightened until they crushed it. 

His teeth pressed to hard they could've fallen out. 

"They did not...they did not just..."

He tore the paper to shreds, and was breathing through his teeth as he did so. 

'They betrayed us. 

They left us to die. 

Why did I even--why did I even trust them?!'

"Knights, my ass!!"

He slammed his desk and was actually about to break his disc, but thankfully stopped the blow. He looked at his disc once again.  
"Thank you for telling me Noelle. But that doesn't mean I forgive you entirely."

.........................

The Silvas had taken all the doctors and workers and had left to the Heaven already. 

They knew a class 2 meteorite would strike directly at the base. Since Julius used all the power of the shields to try out his experiment which was planned for so long and so precisely, there was no protection for Base Camp 1 anymore. 

In the midst of all of this, Nozel had taken serious disliking towards our two individuals. He had taken advantage of the fact that those two boys had no weapons or guns, nor any other family members. 

He had left them to realize themselves. 

...o0o... 

The short ash blonde sprinted through the hallway, tripping across unnecessary objects any rich person would have in their house. 

He panted and wheezed despite the short distance he ran. Panic took over his entire mind.  
'Yuno...Yuno....please wait I'm coming for you!'

He vaulted over windows and debris of yesterday's fatal accident. But as he was doing so, fate had decided to shove his right leg between three sharp rocks. 

Asta felt his weight suddenly drop, which caused him to fall onto his face.  
"Gahh....what--"  
He looked behind and found his right leg, in the worst possible condition it could be in right now. 

"This....Is...Nothing...!!"  
He hissed as he pushed himself up with his strong arms, and tried to pull out his bleeding leg.  
He didn't stop. Not at this time. 

But his young body fell back down with a thud, and a loud crack from his bones. 

"AAAAGHHH!!!! NOO!! I'M NOT DONE!!"

He shouted, not accepting defeat that soon. 

He flinched at a bright light striking him straight in his eyes. He flung his elbow around his eyes, trying to block the blinding figure. 

The light didn't die down, not one bit. It infact became worse. 

But Asta couldn't cover his eyes for the entire time. 

".......holy....shit..."

He gasped out, as his teared up eyes stared at a massive blinding light growing bigger in the sky. 

"That's...!!"

Asta's breathing hitched and came out in short panicked breaths. 

"YUNO!!!!"

He called out with all his strength. Not only that, in the next second he found himself out of the rocks and into the isolated open grounds of Base Camp 1.

He gripped his right leg, from which a bone tore through his skin, ripping all his muscles which he trained to get all his life. 

He himself couldn't believe that he was able to even move.

He believed he moved for only one reason. 

"YUNO!!!! WAKE UUUPP!!!!!"

He yelled the loudest he could as he heavily limped to the others tent. 

'I...have to wake him up! I have to save him! SHIT!!'

Asta realized that his breathing was getting heavier. His lungs were failing at doing their job. 

And the light was nearing. 

His skin started flaking up and cracking as the meteorite came closer. He flinched, but he didn't stop until he reached his friend. 

The blue tent came into view. 

"Yuno..!! Just...ugh.."  
He collapsed to the ground onto his knees.  
He yelped as his right leg gave another loud crack. 

He's broken his leg many times before. It's nothing new. 

He was begging himself to stop and drop, but his body kept moving. He wanted to save Yuno, but he kept yelling at himself that it was too late. 

His mind and body were completely following their own thoughts, but it came back to one when something fell out of Asta's other hand. 

The disc. 

The disc.  
I could use the disc.  
Noelle told me...it would... 

Without thinking, he grabbed the disc and once again started limping to the blue tent. By now half of his body was burnt and a stinging pain enveloped his entire body. 

But his mind started flashing though his life. A little too soon. 

He shook his head, and threw his hands to the zipper of the tent. The zipper was melted. 

"RAAA!! C'MON, ASTA!!!"  
He reached his hand to his back pocket and slid out something. 

A rusty, obsidian black dagger. 

He tore up the tent and finally took a decent breath when he saw Yuno's sleeping figure. 

'How did he not wake up after all of this?!'

Asta scrambled to his bedside and slammed the disc onto Yuno's chest.  
"T-There..."

A blue matter, which was thin and cool, got released from all sides of the disc, and slowly flowed around Yuno's body, creating a shielded coat. 

"Wow...this..."  
Asta watched as it enveloped the other male. 

The light had started burning everything around them, except Yuno, who was protected like the gods wanted him alive themselves. 

Asta cried as he hugged Yuno. Tears flowed out like never before. He never cried for anyone as much as he would for Yuno. 

"Hey...it's gonna be okay...you'll be okay..."  
Asta whispered, in between sniffs and tears.  
In the midst of all this, he smiled.  
He smiled because he was able to be with his foster brother on his last day. 

He turned around, and his mind started counting. Counting until the very earth below them would disappear. 

"I hope I become an angel."  
Asta said while staring at their so-called end.  
"Sister always said, 'live in such a way that the gods make you their messenger'. Will I become their messenger, by chance?"  
Asta looked down at Yuno again. 

"The next time you wake up, I'll hug you, and brag about how I saved your ass. I know it."  
He laughed, before embracing him again.  
"It's gonna be okay. It's definitely gonna--"

Base Camp 1 shook, as an explosion blew the ground into bits. Trees, rocks, sand, everything blown away nothingness. 

Asta yelped, as his body swayed to the impact.  
"It's gonna be okay...It's gonna be okay, Yuno!"

He held on tightly as he smiled through all his tears. 

He remembered his life. It was a second, but that was enough. 

His childhood, when Yuno and him used to play with eachother.  
Sister Lily's amazing food she used to make even when they were scarce on vegetables.  
Old and past memories of fighting over the bed with Recca, and Father Orsi blaming Asta for everything while praising Yuno.  
But in the end of the day, they were both his amazing talented sons. 

It wasn't much, but Asta being the guy he is, didn't mind.

He just needed some thoughts to distract him from reality, where he didn't seem to exist anymore.


	6. Reasons

The land was barren. It was scorched of all life on the surface of the earth. All shades of red, black, brown, and large puddles of cyan too. 

Noelle had never seen so much destruction in her whole life. She never got to see this much, thanks to her siblings constricting her view as much as possible. 

She sighed at the thought, that sister Nebra was somewhere out there. More specifically, her body was somewhere out there. In the same shades and texture of the world right now. 

The young Silva looked at her feet, balancing themselves on a thin metal platform elevated over their temporary tent they stayed in.  
They were yet to reach the 'Heaven', as Nozel called it. 

...........

Nozel. Brother Nozel.  
She loved him with all her heart, because all the decisions he made were to protect his last remaining family that mother had left behind. 

Mother had died with Dorothy Unsworth on a mission. Not just any ordinary mission. 

A mission in outer-space. 

She was floating in a giant metal piece and protecting everyone with cheerful little Dorothy who loved doing her job. Until a big black whale-like creature destroyed their ship.  
But the ship was smart.  
It self destructed on one touch of a foreign object. 

Big brother Nozel couldn't take the pain. Solid said he cried for days on hearing the news. That was when he became over-protective of his siblings. 

Being as rude as possible to them, so they don't go on missions, telling fake lies that Noelle killed their mother, and oh, so many worse things.  
All to protect them. 

And mostly Noelle, because she looked just like their mother. 

But even if you add all this up, it makes no sense to have left behind Asta and Yuno. 

'"Big-Big brother! You're betraying them! They're also fellow knights--"  
"It doesn't matter. The only things that matter are us. You do know why Nebra died, don't you?"

Noelle paused with a gasp.  
"She died because she tried to protect someone else. Don't you get it? We protect someone, we die. That's how we've lived ever since."

Then we have no reason to be called Knights.  
She wanted to say to Nozels face. But she didn't. She dared not to.  
Solid for once protested on leaving the boys behind. They were the last of the Black Bulls, and they were much more dangerous and stronger than any of us. But they never showed their toughness.  
Never.'

....she didn't want to acccept it, but she liked those two boys a lot. Sensible, strong, and don't lie even one bit. Even though Asta was a bit loud, and Yuno a bit rude, she definitely saw something in them. 

And now, she's betrayed them.  
Left them all alone against death itself.  
She left them a little bit of hope, but they can merely save one life with that gadget. It's all she could lay her hands on. 

Now, Noelle is thinking.  
'What if one of them had survived.'  
She shivered at the thought.  
She saw the boy's strong and deep bond.  
What would happen if something were to happen to one of them? 

All she could think of was death.  
Asta and Yuno would never let anyone touch each other. But. If something happened.  
..........

She imagined...... 

...........

They could kill a whole army.

She saw good in them, but....also horrifyingly bad things in them too.  
When Asta looked up to solid, and whispered all that in a monotonous voice, she couldn't help but feel like running. 

Just before the base had collapsed the other day, she was tying up Yuno to the chair. Then... 

"H-Hey...HEY.....OI!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!"  
Yuno yelled in a different tone than previously. Noelle simply ignored it.  
"HEY!!! THIS IS A DIFFERENT SITUATION!! IF NOT ME, THEN GET YOURSELF OUT OF HERE!!"  
Noelle turned her head.  
She noticed Yuno kept looking up at the light bulb and back to his cuffs as he tried struggling his way out. 

Then Noelle heard a beep from her silver watch.  
Her eyes widened, as she turned to Yuno who was hissing as he tried to get the cuffs off himself. 

A meteorite was coming. 

And he knew it before any machinery did. 

Noelle had every reason to stay cautious of the boys. No, fear, the boys. 

She fanned herself. It was getting really hot. 

............................

Noelle felt weird.  
She felt a presence looming up on her. 

But she shrugged it off like the careless little girl she is. 

And that little moment proved fatal. 

A muffled yelp left her lips as she felt her mouth getting secured by something cold and metal.  
She yelled as loud as she could, which didn't reach anyone's ears.  
"Lady Noelle, Sir Nozel wishes to see you. Under certain circumstances such as this."

'What? What did I do?'  
As-if the guard read Noelle's mind, he said

"You have done something which doesn't please him."

...o0o... 

"After all this...."  
Nozel walked across and back on his podium.  
"After....how much.....I protected you..."

Nozel stopped walking and glared down at Noelle, who was held in place by two guards, clad in silver armour. 

"You had to betray me....didn't you..?"

His eyes were wide in fury. A deathly shade over his eyes and forehead.  
"I did all this to keep you safe, Noelle.  
All this, to keep you safe.  
And you had to help the boys,  
Didn't you...?"

Noelle was shivering with eyes as wide as saucers and her eyebrows crumpled up into a greatly frightened expression.  
Tears flowed down her pale face. 

"I know what you did. I know you gave them that disk."  
Nozel walked down the steps from his podium, straight to Noelle.  
"You know I have a reason to do everything. And yet...?"

Noelle grit her teeth. She wasn't going to stay quiet.  
She's been quiet all her life. So no.  
She decided,  
She cannot stay quiet in the face of evil. 

"There wasn't a reason other than pure selfishness. Pure selfishness that only you and your family can survive this war..."  
Noelle started, and glared right into her brother's eyes.  
"....And start a new life all alone while the souls of the innocent and dead follow you around in envy."

She ignored the fact that she would get punished some way or another. It didn't matter anymore. She seemed to like the fact that she was finally able to talk back to her brother.  
She was finally able to release her emotions. 

"You might want to protect your family....but does it look like we care? Does it look like we ever cared? We..."

.....................

"WE ARE KNIGHTS!!!"  
Noelle stepped forward towards Nozel, and threw the two guards holding her off balance.  
"WE ARE KNIGHTS FOR A REASON! TO PROTECT AS MANY PEOPLE AS WE CAN!! IT ISN'T JUST ANY NAME, FOR IF IT WAS, THERE DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE BEEN PEOPLE BETTER THAN YOU!!"  
She yelled out all her emotions. 

"AFTER SUCH A SICK LIFE I DON'T EVEN CARE IF I LIVE!! YOU CAN JUST KILL ME OFF!!"  
She panted heavily.  
Her bangs stuck to her sweaty forehead.

"But no....you won't kill me...it will send all your life's work of shit down the drain with my corpse...won't it?"

Nozel stared at her. With a different expression. He sighed and turned around.  
"Oh, and I forgot....it was because of you, that Fuegoleon perishe--"

A loud slap filled the quiet room. 

Nozel slid his hand into his pocket.  
"You won't speak of Fuegoleon. Ever."

"Like hell I'd listen to you....as long as I'm alive, I'll talk WHATEVER I WANT. And You have....no, power over me."

Nozel continued staring at Noelle who was breathing through her teeth, with her head hanging low. Her right cheek reddened, contrasting with her pale complexion. 

"Very well."

Nozel flung his overcoat up, and pulled out a shiny metal pistol.  
Everyone in the room jerked back on viewing the sudden strange action taken my him. 

"Now since we're anyways gonna die, your life is now useless to me."  
"BROTHER NOZEL!!!"  
Solid screeched from the other side of the room.  
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!"  
He took a step forward. 

"YOU KNOW MOTHER WOULD NEVER WANT YOU TO KILL YOUR OWN SIBLINGS!! WHY?!"  
"............"  
Nozel didn't turn to solid. 

Instead,  
he pulled the trigger. 

A massive ear breaking bang filled the air. 

Noelle, slowly opened her eyes which were squeezed shut.  
'No.  
No. This can't be happening.'  
Her breath quickened and her heart sped, on catching Solid with blood dripping from his mouth. 

"BROTHER SOLID!!!!"  
She yelled, on seeing her sibling's body fall to the ground into a puddle of his own blood.  
"NOOO!! NO NO NO!! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Nozel seemed unfazed as he turned his pistol to Noelle, before pulling the reload.  
"I'm....not sorry."

"Doctor."

A new voice filled the room.  
Followed by a dark aura.  
It instantly sent chills down everyone's spines. 

'What....what is this pressure.....'

...................

'Don't tell me.........'

She froze.  
Her organs.  
Her muscles.  
Her breath. 

The voice continued. 

"Please find a way to help him. He's in a severe condition. 

...................

In the meantime......"

The figure slammed the two doors open with a lot of force, sending a wave of burning heat up everyone's faces. 

Yuno stared at everyone in the room, with the eyes of a killer. 

He had taken the form of death itself. 

There was no running. 

He slid out a dagger as black as the sky. As black as his soul. 

His shirt, hands, and legs, stained with hot blood. Sticking to his body. 

His hair unevenly spread out and burnt in the edges. 

His bloodshot eyes which were dilated in the purest form of rage. 

"I'll kill you all."


	7. Rage

Julius's worn out eyes fluttered open slowly, upon feeling a soft object fall on his cheek.  
He tensed up once again when he felt his surroundings suddenly brighten. He flinched at the change. 

Julius opened his deep blue eyes.  
'......what.....the.....how am I.... '

Marx.  
The time travel.  
The machine.  
The failure. 

He jolted upwards with a small yelp.  
'Marx. No. What's going on? Why am I alive?'  
He looked around. 

His heart instantly dropped to a calm beat when he looked around. 

He was sitting in a forest. On his left, the forest continued. On his right, there was a grassland. Another soft object fell on his head. He reached out and pulled out a dark green leaf. 

'A leaf. It's been a while since I last saw a leaf.' 

Julius took a deep breath, and stood up. He took in the presence of beautiful tall trees all around him. Birds were heard but never seen. Small buzzing of forest insects. He looked down at his feet, and noticed leaf cutter ants marching in a straight line carrying pieces of the same dark green leaf that fell on him. 

Tears flowed out of his eyes.  
Without his knowledge.  
'This is all too good to be real.' 

..........................................  
...........................

"INTRUDER!!"  
"STAND ON GUARD!!"  
"PROTECT SIR NOZEL EVEN IF IT COSTS YOUR LIFE!!!"

The guards panicked as they shifted among other soldiers and unscathed their scorching blue Machetes.

Yuno did nothing but glare at Nozel with eyes wide in unfathomable and untamed rage. 

"I'll kill you."  
He took a firm step forward at the army.  
"I'll kill you all."  
He repeated with his cracked up voice. 

He slowly reached to the side of his waist and pulled out something. 

The guards froze on the sight.  
A few even took off through the back door. 

"That's...the..."  
Nozel shuddered as he eyed the obsidian black dagger in Yuno's blood stained hand.  
"That's the dagger...forged by the first knight...Licht...  
.......But how is he able wield it?"

"GUNMEN!! FIRE!!"  
A soldier on the front line commanded in his loud voice, which was followed by two men in the back row press the trigger of their crossbows. 

Two rays of dark red plasma zipped through the air, past the guards, and headed straight for Yuno. 

The raven haired male swung his dagger in an upward motion, and cut the raging bullets of mana. 

And evaporated them instantly. 

"W-What...?"  
"He cut...the attacks...?"  
"No....he nullified them! On one slice!"

Yuno wasn't wasting time. 

He jumped in an unskilled manner to the head of the guards. A thunk and the flow of blood was heard when he drove his sword into his stomach. 

The guard groaned and fell forward onto the hardened ground. 

"M....MASTER!!! KILL HIM NOW!!!"  
"I WON'T LET YOU BE!!!"

All the guards charged in at one. 

But half of them were thrown back by a huge burst of boiling liquid. 

The guards screamed and gripped their bodies as the sizzling liquid melted through their armour and skin.  
"This is what you get for trapping me."

Noelle stepped beside Yuno and got a glance from him.  
"I'm fighting for you. And Asta."

She pointed her wand forward.  
"Let me assist you!!"  
She was confronted by complete silence from Yuno. 

The next second, every able guard charged at the duo swinging their Machetes. Noelle zapped them with her steaming mercury attacks and Yuno negated them, making everything come his way useless. 

"What's going on in there...."  
A nurse with bruises hiding her visage stood next to a bed. She looked down at her patient.  
"I hope he's alright. His body...."

She eyed the body of a short boy. The left half with skin that was scorched until his muscle layer. His right leg replaced by air, and cut off in a grotesque rigid way.  
His ash blonde hair sizzled to dark brown, and his lips cracked up and dry. 

"Is it even possible for him to survive...?"

The nurse's stomach dropped at the thought of the only thing she would be able to do.  
"No....I cannot do that. I won't do that."

She opened a drawer and pulled out a glass bottle and an injection.

Noelle jumped from the impact point and landed a crushing blow on a guard's neck, snapping it into two.

Yuno pulled out a whip, and swung it again and again until dust rose up around him like a tornado. One of the guards screamed a battle cry and dashed towards the tornado. 

Only for his body to be ripped into shreds. 

'So they did have weapons.'  
Nozel watched as Yuno released his whip and spun the tornado straight at the guards.  
'They had weapons but refused to use them. Refused to reveal them.  
And in actuality,  
They had the most powerful and legendary weapons.'

Nozel took a while to think.  
'Even with such powerful weapons, they still didn't show it off. Instead, they hid it.'

'Selfish brats.'

Nozel pointed his steel gun straight at his little sister who was battling it out.  
'They're all useless bastards.'

A loud bang was heard. 

The raven haired snapped his head to the ominous sound. He watched as Noelle's body fell to the ground, into a puddle of her own blood. 

His breathing became heavy and uneven. His fingers twitched.  
"YOU BASTAAARD!!!"

Yuno shouted the loudest he ever has, as he ran at top speed towards Nozel. 

Another bang. 

Yuno gasped as he felt his insides falling out of place.  
He ran his hand over a gaping hole in his stomach. 

Blood flowed down like a waterfall, splashing onto the stone floor.  
His entire body shivered.

"How does it feel? Good?"  
Nozel spoke, and slid his shotgun into his waist pocket.  
"This wouldn't have happened if you had died peacefully in your bed over at the other base."

'That is pretty true. 

If I stayed asleep at the bed, none of this would've happened.  
It's an amazing way to die, y'know. In your sleep. In your dreams. 

But Asta would've been lonely.'

"You came here so you could save him, isn't it? That other little runt?......he never deserved the demon annihilator dagger."

Nozel turned his head and walked past Yuno.  
"You lot never deserved this life. People like you who feed off luck do not deserve life."

Nozel and Yuno locked eyes side by side.  
"And you..."  
The Silva continued.  
"You don't get to stand at my level with that hideous look of yours."

Nozel softly shoved Yuno's body by the shoulder. The little push, sent the other's torn apart body harshly onto the ground, where his head felt a fatal slam to the side. 

Yuno gasped for his breath which seemed to have gone missing. He coughed and tried to reduce the pain by staying still, but his body wouldn't stop shivering.  
He wouldn't stop bleeding.  
His voice was lost among his hundred other problems.  
He was gonna lose his life too. 

Two blood stained shutters slammed open, revealing the Silva with blood all over his once majestic outfit. 

The nurse lifted her slick hands off of the boy who she was trying her best to treat.  
"Sir N-Nozel..."  
"Move."  
"Huh? I...I...He's--"  
"I said move."

Nozel slid out a scissor that was placed on a nearby countertop.  
"Sir...Nozel! Why...?"  
Nozel closed in on them.  
"I can't let you kill a patient, sir!!"  
She took out the injection she was about to give the boy, and took a defensive stance.  
Nozel stopped.  
"Oh. You can fight too."

In an unseen second, the scissor in Nozels hand was punctured into the nurse's stomach. She yelped in pain as the angered man tossed her aside. 

But Nozel suddenly froze.  
His body froze, and he was unable to move.  
'What...what's happening to me...'

His body fell onto the countertop with a loud crash.  
He used the last of his energy to look down at the lifeless body of the nurse.  
There was something in her hands.  
The injection.  
"She.....she used the morph---"

Nozel's breath was caught inside when he felt something wrap around his throat.  
He immediately brought his hands to his throat and struggled as he tried to push it off.  
It was no use. 

His body was getting tugged backwards, by a rope around his neck. He snipped the rope off with the scissor, and immediately turned around with his gun loaded in his palm. 

The gun fell out, when he felt a sharp object in his chest.  
He stared right into Yuno's eyes. 

"I..m...not Don..e...yet...."  
He rasped out, before pulling his hand upwards, and ripping through Nozels chest.  
There was another blast of his shotgun straight at Yuno's thighs, and he almost fell.  
But Yuno kept telling himself that he can't die until Nozel Silva does.  
He'll only die besides Asta when he approves of it. 

He grit his teeth.  
"Peop....le...like you...do not...deserve the bless....ing...of life....  
Because....you....  
WASTE IT!!"  
The boy yelled his final words, before cutting and tearing upwards through Nozels throat.

Blood sprayed onto him and the room was a mess. 

Yuno flopped besides the bed, where his childhood friend lay. 

He turned to Asta.  
"....I'm...sor...ry.. "

He muttered, almost inaudible.  
"I.....kill...ed....a lot of..people...to..day.."

"I....let....a lot of....peo..ple to.....di..e.."

"It's alright, Yuno."

The raven haired boy turned to the possible origin of those words.  
"A-As...ta...?"

He looked down at Asta. His body still, like he was the whole time, but a little smile, accompanied by bright green eyes. Despite his horrifying state, he was smiling. 

How does he do that?

"Ast..a...Asta...."  
Yuno said his name with all the energy and emotions he had.  
That's all he could say.  
"Yuno. Are you okay?"

.................................  
"H-Hey...Yuno.....don't cry...."

The ash blonde gave a worried look to Yuno, who's eyes were glossy through tearing up. Soon, tears ran down his face.

Tears he had been holding in for a long time. 

A long, long, time. 

"Yuno...relax....please..."  
Asta pleaded the raven haired boy who was sniffing and wiping his tears with his bloodied sleeve. 

"Asta...what sho...uld I do..."

Yuno asked Asta.  
The ash blonde turned his head to the nurse on the ground.  
"That injection. Bring it here."

Yuno stared at Asta. 

"M-Morphine...."

"What's that....?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Morphine is a drug used in small quantities to reduce severe pain in a patient.  
> A lot of it at one, will stop your breathing, and eventually kill you with no fail.  
> Thought you needed to know.


	8. Beautiful

'I did it. 

I wiped him off the face of the earth. 

But at what cost?'

The raven haired boy pondered, as he looked around the room with exhausted eyes and a bleeding chest. 

'I took him down. But at what cost...?'

Yuno turned to steal a glance from his friend.   
He seemed peaceful. A little smile visible, in contrast of his burnt and bloodied half of his body. 

Yuno thought. 

'...........there was no cost. 

I defeated him. At no cost.'

The boy sat besides the ash blonde.  
He planted his back against the bedside, and reached out to Asta's left hand. 

Yuno held the cold and cracked up hand in his own.   
"Hey, Asta."

He called out to his childhood friend.   
"You didn't tell me what it was."

There wasn't any reply. 

"......oh well. As long as I saved you."

Yuno turned and looked ahead of him. Towards the window. 

"Are you happy, Asta? I'm really against assumptions."  
He took a look at Asta from the corner of his eyes. 

He scanned the other's still and motionless body.   
"I guess you became too impatient and took off before me."

Yuno sniffed, before letting out a long sigh.   
"I tried my best not to leave you alone in this world. But in the end, you left me instead. Damn, the irony.

..................

"But I guess it's alright. It's expected. Infact, it's better to have a quick death rather than sit on a bed trying to heal up."

Yuno turned to Asta.   
He let out a scoff and a chuckle.  
"Something that you would do, Asta. 

Rather die than suffer in pain.

Rather die than lay on a sweaty bed the whole day. Only to get run over by some other monster or something."

The raven haired boy coughed a few times. He cleared his throat.   
"Looks like I'm gonna join you soon, Asta."

Yuno coughed again. 

"There's nothing to.....worry about....*cough* because I know we'll meet again."

Yuno's voice continued in his mind. 

Whether it's now. Or an hour later. Or in our next life. 

We'll reunite, 

Because life without you isn't something I'd ever look forward to. 

It isn't something I'd ever enjoy. 

Even if we're slaves in our next life, even if we're inhuman beasts in our next life, even if a generous human saves us right now, 

We'll always be together. 

Even if we are enemies. From opposing kingdoms. From separate races.   
We are destined to meet again. 

I would be sad if I had lost you any earlier than now, Asta. I would've been heartbroken if you weren't present, alive, and watching me show my true strength. 

I would be devastated if you hadn't acknowledged me. 

But...you have. You've acknowledged me. As a strong person who's capable of rivaling you. Competing with you.

So there was no reason to be sad. No reason to feel guilty.   
Infact,  
I'm proud. 

I'm glad that I survived this unforgiving world for seemingly a long time.   
I'm glad that we made it together.

A sudden flash of blinding light tore through the dark smoky clouds that enveloped the sky.   
The raven haired boy flinched. But that too, barely. 

His entire body was numb. His breath was mostly absent.   
His eyes fluttered open and close, unable to decide if he should watch or shut them close and sleep. 

"......Then I guess....goodnight, Asta."

He whispered.   
Letting himself drown into a cold and dark void. 

Sleep tight. 

Don't stray too far in the night. 

Yuno's eyes opened.  
Confronted by a dark blue sky. 

The raven haired boy was confused.   
".......Am I....."

He pushed himself off the floor he was on. It felt stinging. He looked down at his feet, which were laid on top of prickly grass. 

Grass.   
It's been a while since he's felt grass.

He pushed his body upwards, stumbling back in the process. He had forgotten how to use his legs. 

It took a minute to adjust to feeling fine and healed up with no wounds. 

Yuno took deep breaths. It felt good to have fresh air in his lungs. He missed the feeling of breathing.

Something wooshed past his ears. 

He flinched, as he heard a 'thuk' on the floor. Looking down, he saw something. 

A little gem.   
It was dark blue and shining brighter than anything he'd seen. Golden crosses were on four sides of the gem.

He stared at it in awe.   
He had already felt connected to it.   
Like it was his life force. 

He picked it up gently, holding it so it won't ever fall from his hands.   
He was mesmerized by it. 

Yuno tore his eyes from the stone, to look up at the sky. Wanting to thank the gods for showing him something so....beautiful. 

But what he saw, 

Was something else. 

A shooting star. 

The raven haired male instantly started praying in his mind for his wishes. He sighed and opened them his eyes again. 

There wasn't one shooting star. 

There were several. 

More than ten comets traced the length of the vast dark sky. 

And things fell down from the sky. 

He flinched at feeling stones falling from above him, and he checked what they were. 

They were the same stone in his hand.   
The same stone in his hand, fell from the sky in hundreds. 

Flashing blue and golden lights brightened up his pale skin. His amber eyes were lit up as he watched several blue crystals shower the grassland he was on. 

He didn't realize the cuts and wounds they made on his skin. 

Just as one stone almost hit his face, a hand caught it. 

....................................

Yuno snapped his head to the hand that slowly lowered down. 

A short ash blonde boy, beamed at the blue rock.  
"So pretty, don't you think, Yuno?"

The boy named Yuno threw his arms around the other, and tightened himself, as he cried into his shoulder. 

"Oi, Yuno. Why're you crying so much? Didn't you promise that you won't ever shed a tear?"

Asta patted his back as he returned the gesture. 

"Good to see you again, handsome jerk."

.............................................  
..........................................•••

Julius was in a slight panting session, as he looked down the slope of the grassland.   
He supported himself on a tree, as he stood on the forests edge. 

"That's....a village..."  
He let out a chuckle as he looked over a little settlement, overshadowed by a massive skull of a horned beast with three eye sockets. 

Other big skeletal bones littered around it. Overgrown by trees, vines and bushes in the inside of the mouth.  
It was all topped with a minute statue of a human being. 

The blonde and worn out man walked a little further down. 

He spotted something. 

There was a grey stone building in the edge of the village. 

A church. 

Julius looked down on a church, and he saw a man, in his 40s or 50s, sit on the church's doorsteps. The man laughed as he watched two little boys, playing with sticks, occasionally landing a tap on the other's shoulder. 

The Blonde man noticed a dazzling blue necklace hang loosely from one of the boy's neck. 

Julius had a face of utter relief.   
He had never felt happier.   
He had never felt so light in the chest. 

He took in a deep breath.

And he let out a long sigh. 

"What a Beautiful Future."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is officially completed. Thank you very much for reading this, I definitely appreciate it. 
> 
> *And I'm pretty sure you know who those two kids and the man was in the end.*


End file.
